The 9-session NASA Family Science Night program invites middle school children and their families to discover the wide variety of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics being performed at NASA and in everyday life. Family Science Night...(View More) programs explore various themes on the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Universe through fun, hands-on activities, including at-home experiments. Information about Family Science Night implementation and support resources, including the facilitator's guide, are available by registering on the Family Science Night Facilitators website (see Related & Supplemental Resources for link).(View Less)

This is a lesson about planetary atmospheres. Learners will interpret real spectral graphs from missions to determine what some of Earth, Venus, and Mars’ atmosphere is composed of and then mathematically compare the amount of the greenhouse gas,...(View More) CO2, on the planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in order to determine which has the most. Students brainstorm to figure out what things, along with greenhouse gases, can affect a planet’s temperature. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System.(View Less)

This is an activity about using what you can see to identify what you cannot see. Learners will use the criteria they developed in the previous activity in this sequence and analyze whole Sun magnetic map data sets in order to find suspected...(View More) sunspots on the far side of the Sun. This is Activity 7 of the Space Weather Forecast curriculum.(View Less)

This is an activity about telescopes. Learners will first measure several circles to determine their diameters and calculate their areas. Afterwards, they will cover each circle entirely with pennies and record how many pennies are needed for each...(View More) circle size. The concept to be explored is that a telescope with a larger lens or mirror is able to collect more light than another telescope with a smaller-diameter lens or mirror. This is Actividad 10.2 as part of El Universo a Sus Pies, a Spanish-language curriculum, available for purchase.(View Less)

This is an activity about telescopes. Learners will first measure several circles to determine their diameters and calculate their areas. Afterwards, they will cover each circle entirely with pennies and record how many pennies are needed for each...(View More) circle size. The concept to be explored is that as the diameter of a telescope lens or mirror increases, the telescope is thus able to collect more light. This is Activity J-1 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)